SMOKE IN RARE FORM

When asked Monday if he was cleared to race, Stewart referred to some social media reports that he had already gotten that approval last week.

“Read the Internet once in a while, you would see I got released a couple of days ago,” Stewart quipped. “It was on the Internet. It’s a great thing. I’ll show you how to use your computer. … You can tell by my attitude that I’m feeling much better.”

Ah, yes. Because everything you read on the Internet is real. If it was, then you could believe that Stewart’s race team is quite dysfunctional with the fiery Stewart, Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch and Danica Patrick all on one team.

“Don’t you see the bruises already?” Stewart said. “What everybody is overlooking is the fact we have four alpha drivers here that have alpha personalities. The great thing is we all have the advantage of understanding each other.”

BUSCH, HARVICK MAKING IMPACT

It was clear Monday that Stewart-Haas Racing’s expansion is coming along quite nicely and everyone on the team expects the four-car operation to have a big year.

Stewart-Haas has expanded from three to four teams and has added new drivers Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch to a lineup that already included Tony Stewart and Danica Patrick.

Both Patrick and Stewart said Monday that they already are seeing the benefits of having two experienced drivers like Harvick and Busch.

Patrick said she expects to get plenty of help from her two new teammates. So does Stewart, who believes the two drivers bring something that Stewart-Haas has been lacking.

“(Kurt has) got a real good grasp on why things happen and how they need to happen and how they need to be structured to be successful,” Stewart said. “I feel like Kevin and Kurt are both better at that than I am.

“I feel like I am still more of just a driver who can get in the car and go, but those guys can really analyze where programs are at. They are so in-tune with the mechanics of the car, they understand it and they understand why they are making the changes that they make. I’m more get behind the wheel and give feedback.

“Those guys can really lead and give direction. ... Kurt and Kevin are a huge asset to us because of the way they are able to analyze and assess the situation to make it better. Those are two guys who, if I had to go to the racetrack and say, ‘OK, I don’t have a crew chief today,’ if I had to pick a driver to be my crew chief, those are two guys that I would feel comfortable putting in that role.’”

Harvick and Busch should help Stewart-Haas make its cars faster after an off year last season.

HAAS NOT OPTIMISTIC ABOUT F1 TEAM

Stewart-Haas co-owner Gene Haas sounds like a guy who really wants to own a Formula 1 team. He thinks the next expansion of his business, which makes CNC machines (machinery that makes parts), is international. And he loves to race.

But he isn’t all that optimistic he’ll get a team when F1 officials decide in the next couple of months whether to award new team licenses for 2015 or 2016. He’s hopeful, but based on the tone of his comments Monday, he is not expecting to break ground soon on another building at the Stewart-Haas Racing complex.

The F1 project isn’t something Tony Stewart is going to be involved in, although the three-time Cup champ thinks their four-car Cup operation could benefit from housing an F1 team there.

How about more important things — like could Stewart or Kurt Busch or Kevin Harvick or Danica Patrick drive for Haas in Formula One? Haas said eventually he would like to have an American driver but would need to have experienced drivers if the team launches in the next couple of years.

KNOCKED OUT

Count Kevin Harvick among the drivers who like the new qualifying rules, especially the knockout process.